Aion: The Quest for Wings

NCsoft is
gearing up for the 2009 release of a new MMO, but one that blurs the lines
between what has typically been considered the realms of dark and light.

Aion: The Tower
of Eternity is the tale of three races, though only two are playable. The game
takes place in a world that has been shattered. On one side of the abyss is the
realm of the Elyos, a haughty race that bears some resemblance to angels. On the
other side are the Asmodians, with wings made of leather and dark feathers. The
races, though descendents from the same people at one time, are at odds with one
another, and the war if battled in the abyss.

There is a
third non-player faction that can also be drawn into the conflict.

Early in the
game, each of the player races can run a quest that will allow them the use of
wings.

During a recent
event in San Francisco, NCsoft allowed some hands-on time with the game and
supplied the following story, which details the lore behind the ascension quest
that results in growing wings.

The Asmodian
Ascension Quest

The chance to
earn your wings and become a Daeva comes relatively early in the life of every
true Asmodian, though the path itself can be hard and somewhat mystifying. As
you reach level 9 you discover that you must find the Asmodian known as Munin,
who has been detained deep within the Ishalgen Prison Camp.

Trapped within
a crystallized prison cell, Munin is your key to Ascension. This Daeva can
discern the future, even trapped in his cell. This expert fortuneteller will be
able to tell your future and how you will ascend to be a mighty Asmodian, but
first he needs items that can help piece together your past. He will need these
items, the cards of fate, from three different disciples in order to proceed.

The first
appears as an old tailor by the name of Urd, who resides in Aldelle Village,
which you should already be familiar with as it was one of the first places you
would have passed through as a young Asmodian. Urd gives you a card that
represents your past—“I see two twisted creepers”—and sends you to the next
disciple, the Old Lady Fortuneteller.

She lives out
in the Munihele Forest, located roughly halfway between Aldelle Basin and the
Prison Camp. You can find her near a small log cabin, well off the beaten path,
where she goes by the name of Verdandi. The hermit will read your palm and gives
you a card of fate detailing your present state, though you are warned you will
not understand what it means (though Munin will).

Verdandi then
directs you to your next and last stop, this time to have your future read by a
young woman named Skuld. She resides on the cliffs above the sea just south of
Anturoon Crossing. Be careful, this will be one of the most perilous journeys —
the cliffs are swarming with Eyvindir pirates, who don’t take to people invading
their private space lightly. Also beware of the Fang Karnifs, aggressive
cat-like beasts that like to pick off stragglers or unsuspecting Asmodians.

Skuld will read
your future and imprint it on yet another card. Now you must deliver all three
cards back to Munin, which should be an easy run on the path all the way north, back
to the Ishalgen Prison Camp. Munin is pleased you’ve gathered the cards from his
disciples, and his motives in helping you aren’t entirely clear, but evidently
he intends to change the future he sees, and the only way to do so is through
you — but first he must reveal your own future.

As he reads the
cards, he begins to weave patterns in the Aether, and suddenly you are
transported to an outer-worldly realm, wearing a full set of Asmodian armor; the
sky is a mix of dark, blood-like colors, and scattered about are several giant,
swirling vortices - Portals. This is the Abyss, the nether region nestled
between the two shattered halves of Atreia, and you’re standing on one of the
many small, floating rocky islands that dot the Abyss. You see a line of wounded
Asmodian soldiers before you, but the apparent leader — Archon Legionary Hagen —
beckons you forward.

The Asmodians
are in a desperate struggle to attain the floating island of Narsass, but the
Elyos Legatus known as Hellion is successfully standing in their way. You must
fly to Narsass and defeat Hellion personally — that is your destiny.
Immediately you spread your wings and spring off the island, passing groups of
Asmodians and Elyos engaged in aerial combat, before you reach the foreboding
Narsass.

After defeating
several Elyos soldiers, you come up against Hellion himself, and the battle does
not go well. You are soundly defeated after a blinding assault. Suddenly, you
seem to recover, but you’re back in your old armor again, and the form of Munin
appears nearby. “The future is not fixed,” he says, and he reveals that trying
to change the future is why he was imprisoned in the first place. You agree to
mutually help each other — Munin claims he will need help in the future, and in
return he will help save your life down the line — but first you must become a
Daeva and pick a class.

Once your
specialized class has been chosen, you then teleport to Pandaemonium, the
Asmodian capital, where you will need to talk to friendly Heimdall of the City
Guard (he’s not hard to find). The formal Ascension ceremony takes place in the
Great Temple of Pandaemonium and is overseen by the high priest, Balder. There
is a great ceremony — some of the Asmodians will mock you, others will be more
encouraging — where the elders recognize you as a Daeva, newly Ascended, ready
to prove that the Asmodians hold the true power in Atreia. The ceremony ends
with the granting of your new wings, which you can now use to fly and customize
as you wish.